The declaration by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
that the 1965 purge of communists and their supporters was a gross
violation of human rights immediately revived my memories of the brutal
killings.

As a nine-year-old boy, I saw huge piles of bodies in a remote creek
somewhere in Jogonalan district in Klaten, Central Java.

On a chilly morning just before sunrise, I went on foot with my elder
brother, relatives and neighbors to try to locate the place where we had
heard the gunshots.

"Ono opo to kae (What's up)?" a relative asked in Javanese. No one
answered as everybody had been sound asleep. However, it was surely the
sound of gunshots.

When we finally reached the site, far from the villages, we found a
creek near a railway crossing piled with bodies, full of bullet holes.
In the pools of blood I saw gold teeth flashing from gaping mouths. I
thought they might have been screaming in pain.

Whitish brain matter was splattered over the bodies, possibly because
the alleged communist party members were shot at close range.

People flocked to the scene from every direction. Most were speechless.
The only expressions heard were of horror.

As a child, I did not know what was going on. What I heard was that the
alleged PKI members were slaughtered before they could kill their
opponents --- Muslims, Christians and others.

One rumor was that the communists had been digging holes in many places
to bury any opponents of communism the found after the coup.

I learned much later that after the Sept. 30 events, thousands of people
--- some estimate between 500,000 and 1 million --- who were suspected of
being PKI members or their supporters, were slaughtered. Many others
were jailed for years without any trial or charges, or forced into exile.

The discrimination against people associated with the PKI continued with
the government barring them from becoming soldiers, civil servants and
teachers or from any employment at state institutions. Former PKI
members and supporters also found it hard to get jobs due to the
ex-political prisoner status on their identity cards, while their
relatives were similarly stigmatized.

Under former president Soeharto's rule, any discussion and recognition
of the mass killings that was different from the official state versions
was quickly suppressed.

During the nationwide purge, military officials were believed to have
deliberately targeted innocent civilians. Many of the victims actually
had nothing to do with the communist party or its subordinates.

In its development the Constitutional Court ruled, in 2004, that former
PKI members were allowed to contest elections. Two years later, the
government deleted the ex-political prisoner label from identity cards.

The human rights commission has now recommended that the military
officials involved in the purge be brought to trial. State officials
under the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order
(Kopkamtib) led by Soeharto, who served from 1965 to 1967, for example,
should be taken to court for various crimes, including rape, torture and
killings.

The Commission also recommended that the government issue a formal
apology to the victims and their family members --- an apology which
should be followed by rehabilitation, reparation and compensation.

Now the creek where slaughtered bodies were piled, witness to one of the
bloodiest incidents in Klaten, is still functioning as part of an
irrigation network. Those who do not know that brutal killings ever took
place there pay no attention to it, but a chill runs through me whenever
I pass it by.